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Chapter 744 Changes in the North
"You are only the deputy editor-in-chief. You must discuss with the editor-in-chief whether to publish or not, and you cannot make decisions on your own. Wang Chengen, send someone to take him to Tongzhou to meet Ma Jinglun, and explain the rules of running a newspaper." Seeing this expression, Hong Tao knew that he had guessed right again and found a business operator who was genuinely passionate about the "Business Daily".

However, loving a job only means being willing to put in more effort, but it does not mean that you can complete it well. It may even become a counter-force. The more this is the case, the more you need to take precautions in advance and clarify the core nature of the work.

"Copy a few copies of this book and give them to the Naval Staff and Wang Datou, and ask them to verify it as soon as possible." Zhang Xie thanked the eunuch profusely and followed him out. Hong Tao picked up "A Study of the East and West Oceans" again and planned to do some serious research.

If the content of the book is generally correct, it can be handed over to the Commercial Daily for formal publication after revisions. It can be used as a civilian reading material, as a guide to foreign trade and diplomacy, and has certain military uses.

After the staff officers had been busy for the whole morning, when Hong Tao woke up from a nap in the back hall and prepared to have lunch, the huge map on the wall had changed from a relatively empty outline to a lot of densely packed dots, lines and circles.

"Li Qing, what do you think of Yunnan?"

However, there was still a large area of ​​the map in the southwest that was almost blank. Hong Tao found it annoying no matter how he looked at it, and he couldn't help but have some ideas. However, he really hadn't paid much attention to the situation in Yunnan in recent years. He had to ask the Chief of General Staff whether he had the conditions to take action.

"As for Yunnan... the area is mountainous, with deep waters, dense forests and dangerous roads, and there are many local chieftains, making it difficult to appease. Sending too many troops will make it difficult to supply, and sending too few troops will be useless. Even if we are invincible, the people will revolt if we retreat, which is really useless.

Governor Chen Yongbin has been in office for many years. Although he has not made any progress, he has also been able to maintain the status quo. He has formed a tacit understanding with the local chieftains, so it is not advisable to act rashly. If Your Majesty is still worried, you can send more steel crossbows and money and food, and then think of a way to slowly make plans after the victory in the northern advance."

Since he became the Chief of the General Staff, Yuan Keli became the top military figure in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the Ministry of War, every move of the navy, army, new army and border troops was also under the monitoring of the General Staff.

Hearing the question and looking at the emperor's expression, the old minister immediately sensed a strong murderous intent. But from the perspective of the chief of staff, he had to try his best to persuade the emperor to give up this idea.

"Yeah...it's really useless and too much of an eyesore. Has there been any movement in the north and east during this period?" The persuasion apparently worked, as the emperor stared at him fiercely again, then stopped looking at the map and returned to the throne to listen to the report.

"The reason why I am reluctant to allow Your Majesty to use military force in the southwest is because the north and east are not peaceful."

Yuan Keli also returned to the table and waved at the cigar that was handed to him. He was not very fond of this kind of smoking, even if it was given by the emperor.

"Oh! Tell me in detail..." The emperor, who had been a little depressed, suddenly became energetic, as if he was very much looking forward to a war at the border.

"According to the report of the Navy General Staff, the Joseon Lee clan has been flirting with the Liaodong Jurchens since the eleventh year of Jingyang. There are reports that the Jurchens deliberately let the Korean people enter Liaodong to farm, and some have even reached as far as Phoenix City.

According to the accurate secret report from Tieshan Port, a large number of iron ingots have entered the Jurchen-controlled area of ​​Liaodong from the Tieshan Ironworks in the past two years. It is similar to what Your Majesty guessed, the Jurchens and North Korea have a secret transaction, and it is very likely that they exchanged grain for iron ingots.

According to intelligence from spies in Jinzhou, Huang Taiji, who took over the Jurchen tribes from Nurhaci, secretly went north at least once in the six months after the twelfth year of Jingyang, and his destination was most likely Baicheng, the base of Ligdan Khan.

In addition, I have heard some news from Mongolian merchants in Jinzhou. If it is true, there may be some secret alliance and flow of goods between Lin Danhan, Huang Taiji and the Joseon Lee family. Unfortunately, their route is east of the Liaohe River, and the General Staff is really out of reach. "When talking about Liaodong, Yuan Keli's expression is obviously much more solemn. After two great victories, on the surface, the attempt of the Jurchens to advance westward was repelled, and the conspiracy of the Ordos and Tumed tribes on the right wing of Mongolia was thwarted. In fact, the left and right wings of Mongolia were in a state of division, which weakened the threat from the north.

However, with the alliance between Lin Danhan, Huang Taiji and Korea, the current situation is not very favorable to the Ming Dynasty. Each of these three forces has very serious flaws, such as the low smelting technology of the Mongolian tribes, the lack of population of the Jurchen tribes, and Korea is too poor.

But if the three parties really united, not only would their shortcomings be made up, but their advantages would also be expanded. Mongolia produced horses, and their strategic reserves were sufficient; the Jurchens occupied large tracts of fertile cultivated land, which could be cultivated by Koreans to quickly solve the food problem; and Korea had iron smelting plants, which could continuously provide Mongolia and the Jurchens with weapons and armor.

The cavalry and infantry troops with sufficient supplies, bravery and ferocity, proficiency in archery and horsemanship, rich combat experience and a large number of them may appear at any point on the Great Wall at any time. It's a headache just thinking about it.

Although the army's combat effectiveness is strong, its proficiency is very limited. It is impossible to guard the entire long defense line from Yanqing to Shanhaiguan tightly. As long as one place is breached, it will cause great damage to the rear.

With the lessons learned from the previous two failures, both the Jurchens and the Mongols would never engage in a head-on battle with the army again. They would definitely make full use of the mobility of the cavalry, adopt large-scale roundabout tactics, avoid the army as much as possible, and plunder and destroy the hinterland south of the Great Wall.

The reason why people were not too worried about this problem in the past was that there were heavy troops stationed on the Great Wall defense line and the army was available to reinforce the rear at any time. Any invasion from Mongolia or Jurchen would not pose much of a threat.

Now it seems that Huang Taiji is a little better than his teacher. Not only did he persuade Ligdan Khan to join forces to fight against the Ming Dynasty, he also seemed to have brought in the Lee family of Korea. He planned to make the enemy of my enemy a friend and unite all the forces that can be united to defeat the most powerful enemy first and then discuss how to distribute the benefits.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty seemed to be a bit isolated. First of all, Lindan Khan would definitely not side with the Ming Dynasty. This was not a policy conflict, but the butt determined the brain.

As the nominal Great Khan of Mongolia, as long as Lindan Khan did not give up his ideal of becoming a real Khan, he had to find a way to annex other tribes, including the Kharchin, Tumed and Ordos tribes on the right wing of Mongolia.

Now Kalaqin and Tumed are fighting fiercely with the Ming Dynasty, building factories and engaging in trade, and even letting the Ming Dynasty station troops in Guihua City. Obviously, this is to hold on to the strong legs to resist the westward expansion of the Mongolian left wing.

If they want to swallow up these two tribes, they must first hurt the Ming Dynasty so that it dare not collude with them again. But if they want to hurt the Ming Dynasty, the power of the Mongolian left wing alone is not enough. Looking around, the only ally seems to be the Great Jin Kingdom, or the Kingdom of Korea.

On the other hand, Huang Taiji had similar intentions. He wanted to avenge his father and brothers and wanted the Jurchen tribes to gain more population and territory. He could only go west, west, and west again. The only forces that could help each other were the Left Wing of Mongolia and the Kingdom of Korea.

As for why the King of Joseon, Yi Hun, turned his back on the Ming Dynasty and sided with the enemy of the Ming Dynasty, the Jurchens, regardless of his love for the country during the Imjin War. No one can guess the specific reason, but Emperor Jingyang said it well: between countries, we should talk less about feelings and more about interests!
Geographically speaking, Korea has been close to China since ancient times, and has faced the risk of being annexed in almost every dynasty, so it had to choose to be dependent. But they did not accept their fate in their hearts. As long as they encountered an opportunity to escape their fate, most kings would not be able to resist, and the more idealistic they were, the more they could not resist.

Politically, the Ming Empire also kept a tight rein on Korea, even meddling in the succession to the throne. Even a king with no great ideals would have to bear a grudge if he had any dignity. In the past, he was just forbearing and waiting for the right opportunity, but now he is betraying his own people because he feels the opportunity has come.

Therefore, North Korea has no possibility of standing together with the Ming Dynasty and becoming a strategic partner. Of course, it cannot be allowed to flirt with outsiders or even become a springboard for endangering the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)